BRONX, N.Y. – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team opened the 2022 season on Friday at Fordham University's Rose Hill Classic. The Quakers got off to a fast start against Niagara, winning the first set, but the Purple and White clinched the next three sets—all close affairs—to earn a 3-1 victory. Game scores were 15-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-22.
 
Niagara is now 2-2 on the season.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*Penn fell to 2-1 in its all-time series with Niagara; this was the first meeting between the programs since 1995.
 
*Penn hit .233 on the day and had six service aces.
 
*Net play was a big part of this match; while Penn had just two block assists, Niagara rolled up three block solos and 20 block assists, and closed out the third and fourth sets with its net defense.
 
*Junior Madison Risch, whose previous career high was nine kills in a match, had 22 on Friday afternoon.
 
*Risch also hit .360 on the day, with just four errors on 50 attacks, and had a double-double with 11 digs.
 
*Senior Madeline McGregor had 14 kills, the only other Penn player to hit double figures in that category, and completed her double-double with 14 digs.
 
*Three freshmen were in the starting lineup on Friday afternoon: Abigail Reid (at libero), Anna Shohfi and Jalen Tennyson.
 
*Shohfi finished the day with a team-high 50 assists, 14 digs—tied with McGregor for second among Penn players—and six kills.
 
*Reid led the Quakers with 22 digs and three service aces.
 
*Tennyson had six kills and three digs in her collegiate debut.
 
How It Happened
Niagara scored the first three points on Friday, but once Penn got going the Purple and White were helpless to stop things. The Quakers scored six of the game's next eight points to go in front, then hit two in a row to turn a 12-11 lead into a three-point advantage and force an NU timeout. Another five-point run pushed the Red and Blue's lead to 22-13 and they cruised to the 25-15 win from there. Risch had seven kills on just 10 attacks (a .700 kill percentage) while McGregor had four kills and hit .375.
 
Niagara got out to another fast start in Set 2, but this time Penn never got back into it. The Purple and White scored the first two points and built the lead to 9-3 before head coach Meredith Schamun called a timeout. The teams traded points for a while, before the Quakers made a move to turn a 19-12 deficit into a four-point set at 20-16. That forced a Niagara timeout, after which the Eagles score three in a row to salt away the win.
 
The third set was a thriller. Penn was down by as much as four but rallied to tie things up at 18-18 on a McGregor kill. The senior then had kills to tie it again at 19 and 20, before a Risch kill made it 21-21. After the teams traded points yet again, making it 22-22, Niagara used its net defense to pull out the set win, sandwiching a pair of blocks around a kill for a 25-22 victory.
 
The fourth set proved to be the best of the day. Penn and Niagara were tied 14 times, the last time when the Purple and White stopped a 3-0 Quakers run to tie things up at 22-22. At that point, NU again used its front-line defense to gain the win—the Eagles blocked two Penn attacks in a row to go up 24-22, then closed it out with a final kill to end the match. Risch had another strong set on attack, with seven kills and a .636 hitting percentage.
 
Up Next
Penn will be in action twice to close out play at the Rose Hill Classic on Saturday, facing host Fordham at 2 p.m. and Fairleigh Dickinson at 5 p.m.